Henderson police chief to retire March 1

Jutta Chambers told her employees in a private staff meeting Thursday that she will retire from her position as chief of the Henderson Police Department effective March 1.

The decision came less than two weeks after the City Council approved a settlement with Adam Greene, who was kicked in the head and kneed by Henderson police officers during a traffic stop in October 2010.

Chambers did not make herself available to discuss her decision with the media Thursday, but Mayor Andy Hafen said she will take part in the city's voluntary employment severance program. The buyout would include two weeks' salary for each of the 29 years Chambers worked for the city. She was being paid about $185,300 a year.

The city did not say how much the payout will be, as requested by the Review-Journal. It was unclear whether Chambers will return to work before her retirement.

Shortly after Chambers made her announcement, Hafen told reporters her replacement would be handpicked by the next city manager, not departing City Manager Mark Calhoun.

According to a source, Calhoun on Monday told Chambers to step down "in short order" after members of the City Council expressed displeasure over how she handled the 2010 beating incident.

The same day, Calhoun in an email to city employees announced his own retirement effective May 1, but there were no clear indications his decision to leave is related to the Greene incident.

Hafen said that under the city's charter, the mayor and City Council have authority over three positions, all appointed: city manager, city clerk and city attorney.

They are elected officials, but council members do not have the authority to discipline employees, whether they are managers -- other than the top three -- or rank-and-file workers, said Councilwoman Gerri Schroder on Wednesday.

Hafen credited Chambers with implementing changes to the department's use-of-force protocols after a police sergeant kicked Greene, who was in diabetic shock, after he was already subdued by several other law enforcement personnel.

Those changes, which the city has declined to reveal, reduced such incidents by 30 percent since 2010, Hafen said.

"The new city manager will take a look at the incident and see if further changes are needed," he said.

Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie, who has experienced his own controversy regarding police misconduct, expressed surprise upon learning Chambers was resigning.

He said he has known her about a dozen years, when both were captains with their respective departments' narcotics sections.

Gillespie said their working relationship grew stronger as they rose through the ranks, especially when Chambers became police chief for Nevada's second-largest city.

Through their years in command, Gillespie said he and Chambers had their officers collaborate in efforts to reduce auto thefts and traffic fatalities and worked on such far-reaching missions as the fight against terrorism.

"I consider her to be a friend," Gillespie said. "She was a forward-thinking law enforcement professional."

Gillespie refrained from commenting on the circumstances behind Chambers' retirement, saying he didn't know any of the specifics that led to her decision. He did say he will miss her. "I wish her the best," he said.

Hafen, who was a special investigator with the Metropolitan Police Department for several years, said the Greene incident was an aberration.

He said that the "very best people" work in the Police Department and that every day they focus on public safety. He said he wanted the public to know the incident with Greene was not typical of how the department operates.

Still, he said it was "very disturbing" to look at the video, particularly because there was no resistance from Greene.

He said Greene is a person of "high caliber" who holds no ill will toward the city or its police. "He just wants to put this behind him," Hafen said. "That's the same thing we want to do."

The beating was recorded by a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper's dashboard camera. In the video, Sgt. Brett Seekatz is shown kicking Greene in the head five times.

Another Henderson police officer, who has not been identified, kneed Greene in the midsection several times, breaking his ribs. Highway Patrol troopers did not strike Greene.

Seekatz was disciplined, but Chambers and other city officials have not explained what measures were taken. He remains with the department and kept his rank.

By all accounts, no members of the City Council had knowledge of the incident, the lawsuit that followed or the existence of the video until the day before or the day of the council's Feb. 7 meeting.

In that meeting, the council quietly approved paying Greene $158,000 to settle the lawsuit. The item was included in the city's consent agenda, which consists of several items and is routinely passed without discussion. Earlier, the city attorney approved a $99,000 settlement with Greene's wife.

Until Chambers' successor is named sometime after May, Deputy Chief Jim White will act as interim chief, Hafen said.

As for who might replace Calhoun, Hafen responded to unofficial reports that Jacob Snow was the front-runner. Hafen said that Snow, the general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission, is a close friend and that he is impressed with Snow's abilities. But Hafen said he's just one vote and the decision will be the City Council's to make.

Review-Journal writers Antonio Planas and Mike Blasky contributed to this report. Contact reporter Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.